Matunga Labour Camp

Decades ago, this land used to be wide open land spread across acres and was grazing fields for cattle around the area. South Indians form the majority of people in Matunga labor camp with people from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. People from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar also are in distinct number in this community. People also migrated came from Nasik, Satara, Ahmednagar and other districts of Maharashtra. Marathi manoos (man) that lived here also worked at the mills in Girangaon and the 1982 mill strike contributed to many Maharashtrains moving away from here. Matunga Labor Camp has an area called Geetanjali Nagar, a concept visualized by Dadasaheb Gaikwad and Babasaheb Ambedkar. The area had a predominant Dalit presence during the British raj and this colony was envisaged to enhance the living standard of Dalits and ensure a roof over his head. Matunga Labor Camp also played a significant role in forming Dalit Panther and people like Namdev Dhasal addressed gatherings here during the national freedom movement. Despite being next to the white collared locality, the Dalit movement was very strong but today the picture has transformed. Many in the community in the Matunga Labor cap were mill workers, some daily wage workers and some waste pickers. The mill worker here lived with his entire family as houses were cheap here unlike the workers in Girangaon who lived without his family in a room shared by 25 other people, with family back home.